Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
Facebook gets a lot of attention on this podcast when it comes to talking about marketing on social media, but what about Instagram? It seems to be getting more and more popular, are Instagram ads just as good as Facebook then? Why or why not?
Derek tackles this question with Graham in tow and explains the nuances of the different platforms and why you’d post on one and not the other, despite that they are both owned by the same company.
Show Resources
While we mourn the loss of Ashkahn at Daily Solutions, don’t blame it on the Float Conference. Purchase tickets, see event schedules, and find hotels while you still can.
Can you Cross Post to Different Social Media Platforms? – DSP 191 (the episode Graham mentioned, a great place to start if you want more information on cross-posting to more social media platforms)
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Graham: All right. Welcome, everybody.
Derek: Hey there, hey there.
Graham: I’m Graham.
Derek: I’m Derek.
Graham: And he’s been living under a rock for the last few days. Ashkahn’s not with us, he’s-
Derek: He’s with us. He’s with us. Not in person, but he’s still alive.
Graham: Oh, he’s still alive. Yeah. Yeah, he hasn’t died. He’s just working on the conference. It’s right around the corner, so in the meantime, you get to hear me and Derek answer some questions about marketing. Derek’s the kind of marketing expert on board with Float On and today’s question is: “You talk a lot about Facebook,” Derek. It doesn’t actually say Derek in there. “What about Instagram and Instagram ads?”
Derek: Oh. I hate to break it to you, faithful listener, but that’s Facebook too. They bought Instagram many years ago for, like, a billion dollars.
Graham: They were the same thing for Float Tank Solutions in the conference.
Derek: They own everything Instagram. It’s actually one of their smartest moves ever done because there’s a lot of backlash about Facebook, but Instagram’s so great, and it has pictures and whatnot. But you can actually control Instagram ads from your Facebook business manager.
Graham: Can you control Instagram posts from Facebook?
Derek: You can, now. That actually happened literally weeks ago.
Graham: Oh, crazy. I didn’t know that.
Derek: You can post to Stories on Facebook from your Facebook platform. You can also crossover stories, so you can post an Instagram story and it’ll go over to your Facebook page story. They’re really trying to make the platforms very similar, but still have a distinct delivery difference.
Graham: And Instagram, I assume, is still just all about the pictures primarily.
Derek: Pictures and videos.
Graham: Yeah, yeah. Okay, so let’s say that I, just as a float center owner – which I’m guessing this person is having the same thought process – but I’m like, okay, I want to rock out Instagram. It’s mainly visual. There’s photos and I think float tanks and float tank centers make for some really good photo content.
Derek: And there’s a different audience that might be on Instagram more than are on Facebook. Like, I feel like everyone’s on Facebook, but maybe a more targeted, younger demographic’s on Instagram, so if you’re really trying to go out there and, yeah, you can demographically target by age, but if you really want to be on a platform that your audience uses more than daily, hourly in some cases, I’m a huge fan of Instagram. I’m on that all the time. If you see me on my phone, I’m probably not checking emails. I’m really on Instagram.
I mean, when it comes down to it, Instagram ads are one of those things that, if you want to completely rock out on that all by itself, go for it. Test it out, right? I feel like it’s going to be pretty hard to get people on Instagram to book a float. Yeah, you can link to something and then they can go in through a paid Instagram ad and hit your booking manager, but, you know, they’re really there to just browse pictures. The Instagram browser’s not the greatest experience, as far as the web browser that’s within Instagram. And so I feel like if you want to build brand awareness, try to get people from that state of not knowing what floating is to curious about what floating is, Instagram might be a great visual platform to do that because it can’t get lost in copy. If you’re not a good copywriter, great. The first thing that’s going to catch people is a great picture or video.
Graham: So would you say posting on Instagram is useful and, maybe, ads on Instagram aren’t as much? Or, I guess, what’s your take on the organic posting versus ads on Instagram, specifically?
Derek: So I do a lot of ads on Instagram. If I’m doing something on Facebook and I’m boosting it, I’m probably also doing it on Instagram, and the Facebook ads platform, you can do more than just Instagram. You can also do Facebook Messenger ads, you could put ads on the Marketplace. The Facebook ads platform, you could hit whatever Facebook owns, you could probably advertise on that network, so Instagram is just one of many places you can advertise on the Facebook platform that’s not Facebook.
Graham: And so I guess I was asking because you said that you don’t really see people on Instagram going to actually book a float, so what’s the return on ads? Or what’s the value of kind of running ads on Instagram? Or even backing up further: why do you think that people would come in to book a float off Facebook, but not off of Instagram as much?
Derek: Well, I think the way it kind of works out is Instagram, there’s not really an easy desktop platform whereas Facebook, there’s a desktop platform and so even though the majority of people are accessing Facebook and Instagram from mobile, I see a lot more conversions coming from the desktop platform. I think just because it’s easier to enter your credit card information, you probably already have that information saved in your browser. It’s easier to type in passwords that are your favorite passwords that you keep reusing all over the internet. It’s just a more native experience and that’s shifting. Like, more and more when the mobile browsing gets better, people are just going to naturally shift to buying things off of mobile but, you know, integrations with Apple Pay is going to come and that’ll make it easier to book. But until it’s easier to book mobile, most people, I feel like, are still going to book on a desktop.
Graham: Interesting.
Derek: At least that’s with Portland. I mean, maybe Portland’s that counterculture where, you know, people are not buying on mobile, but I feel like it’s a lot easier to buy on desktop than it is mobile.
Graham: And it’s an interesting theory. I mean, either way, it seems like, both in talking to other float tank centers, that they get more bang for their buck with Facebook, and also not even float tank centers. Just doing some research into advertising on social media in general, it just seems like Instagram ads are not quite as successful for a lot of people as Facebook ads are. And maybe it’s just you really need to go with those products that are so visual, you know? Like, I could see clothing, for example, doing better on Instagram than on Facebook, and maybe floating is just so experiential. It doesn’t have that same, what you’re viewing is actually the product and so an image-based platform is more successful. I’m not exactly sure. Again, it just seems like I-
Derek: So, you can sell some really quick Stories on Instagram and do quick ten second Instagram Story ads, and so it’s more of I use, when I advertise on Instagram, it’s more of an awareness thing. I’m not looking fully for conversions. A lot of our marketing at Float On isn’t directly tied into conversion, which is counter to what I say for a lot of starting centers-
Graham: It is counter to what you say, yeah.
Derek: But for starting centers, you’ve got to really seek those conversions. So if you’re, again, strapped for cash and you want to go ahead and put your money where you’re going to get money back, test it out. Maybe Instagram’s a hit in your community, but I would put my money on Facebook. When you do have a little bit of budget or you are just a super user of Instagram like myself and you have fun just using it and you’re going to use it as your center quite a bit, develop an audience on it. I mean, I think Float On’s got, like, 17-1800 fans, which is a fourth of what we have on Facebook, but they’re super engaged. When I actually post on Instagram, I get a lot more engagement. I can get up to 100 people liking something out of 1500 people, whereas I post on 8000 on Facebook and, maybe, 20 people like something.
Graham: Yeah, and we did a good episode before too, so go look it up. Just if you type “social media”, it’ll turn up on our site, but it’s on how you can cross-post. You know, do a Facebook post and make sure that’s going out to Instagram and vice versa, so it doesn’t even need to cost you more time when you’re – either running ads or not – really cross-posting between Facebook and Instagram, which is great. Or, at least, that time is minimized.
So that’s the nice thing, you know? If you want to maintain an Instagram, if you don’t care about it being your primary social media platform, there’s a lot of ways to do that without adding too much to your plate.
Derek: Right.
Graham: And yeah. I think that’s all I have.
Derek: Yeah. If you’re a fan of the platform, develop it, but only when you can have the extra money to not care about return for Instagram.
Graham: Cool. And if you have your own marketing questions or any float-y questions at all-
Derek: Go to floattanksolutions.com/podcast.
Graham: And we’ll talk to you tomorrow.
Derek: Take care, everyone.
Graham: Bye.
Recent Podcast Episodes
Can You Wear Jewelry in a Float Tank? – DSP 209
Sometimes people wear jewelry. Sometimes people float. What happens when these things overlap? What about piercings?
Graham and Ashkahn concisely explain why it’s a good idea to take that wedding ring off before you float in this episode.
What’re the Benefits of Financial Transparency for a Float Center? – DSP 208
There’s a traditional wisdom in business that dictates certain information should be held close to the vest. Financial information, hiring information, performance metrics, and so on should only be shared on a need to know basis. More recently, there’s been a push for more businesses to have transparency in some of these areas.
Ashkahn and Graham explain their stance on transparency and the thought process behind making Float On as transparent as possible, as well as many of the benefits they see on a regular basis because of it.
How to Prevent Losing Members to Cheap Discounts – DSP 207
Many float centers rely on memberships, usually monthly, to help maintain a steady flow of income throughout the year. Sometimes that’s not enough, like during slow months, and a steep discount can seem really attractive for filling up float tanks. What’s the best solution to making sure that you aren’t cannibalizing your own sales with discounts and potentially losing members?
Graham and Ashkahn share their tried and true approach to this nuanced question and share some excellent examples of how Float On rewards its members without losing sales during discounts as well as throughout the rest of the year.
Dealing with Low Flow After Installing a Flow Meter – DSP 206
Flow meters are designed to measure how quickly water travels through a filtration system. This is useful for all sorts of recreational water facilities. Pools and spas have been using them for years. Often times health departments will require them for float tanks, as they help provide a certain level of assurance to the filtration quality of a system.
The problem arises when using flow meters that aren’t designed to handle the specific gravity of float tank solution. So far, only one flow meter is designed to be accurate for float tanks and if a system isn’t using that one, it can be a bit surprising to find out that the flow is different. Ashkahn and Graham talk all about the reason for flow meters and how to troubleshoot problems that may cause a loss of flow.
Floating with Intention – DSP 205
Not every float is going to be pure bliss. Sometimes the anxiety doesn’t go away. Sometimes that back pain is still there. Are there ways to float with intention to help control the outcome of a float?
Graham and Ashkahn share their thoughts on techniques intended on getting the most out of your float and things that may work, as well as the perils of trying to control how your float goes.
Latest Blog Posts
Handling Tough Decisions…
I’ve written the introduction to the conference program for four years in a row, and each year I like to share it on this blog. For those of you who didn’t make it out for the 2015 Float Conference, here are a few of my thoughts on the work that float center owners do, and the questions they may face in running a float tank center.
How to Drain and Fill a Float Tank
There are roughly 850 pounds of epsom salt and 200 gallons of waters in an average sized float tank (approximately 8 feet long and 4 feet wide). It takes hard work (and a few tips I’m about to share) to get a tank ready for floating.
The Whys and Hows of Email Marketing
A trending strategy when a small business goes to market is that social media marketing becomes their main focal point. On the surface, social media marketing is easy to get started with, the costs can be nil, and most people are already using it for personal use. The...
How to Deal with a Power Outage in your Float Center
Power Outages = Unplanned Sensory Deprivation It only took a day since the publishing of my last blog post before I would have to put my knowledge of unconventional ways of waking up floaters to the test. The incident did not involve “sinkers” those individuals who...
